I shook my head as a tremor ran through my body. “No
one.”
“What did I say about lying to me? I won’t tell
anyone. Who did you lose?”
This time the pain was in my throat and I couldn’t
look him in the eyes. Now I knew that what I felt when he said he missed his
brother wasn’t sympathy, but empathy. “My sister. And you?” Other than his
brother.
“My son. There was a fire in his room.”
I looked up in shocked horror. “That’s horrible!
When? How old was he?” I was suddenly on the couch next to him, but he stared
at the floor as if I hadn’t moved.
“It was the night he was born.” Now he was crying.
This was the man who was created to protect Earth.
This was one of the most powerful people ever to be born, on any world. This
was a man who has lived for over two thousand years. This was my friend, who
lost his child and pushed away his brother in pain.
At that moment, I realized the difference between
good people and evil.
Ronez suddenly yelled (certainly not a cry) in pain.
I realized I had my hand on his arm as his skin flushed with a heat like he was
burning. By the time I gasped in surprise, I heard a cruel laugh. Shio stood in
the doorway.
“Good job distracting him for me,” he said snidely. I
hardly heard him over Ronez’s gasping. He clutched my arm with one hand and his
chest with the other. I tried to push him upright for easier breathing, but he
jerked in pain, barely able to breathe and breaking out in sweat.
“What did you do?!” I yelled at Shio. He didn’t have
the dignity to lose his smug grin. “You were not supposed to kill him!”
“I am allowed to kill him. Now we can get the book
without him getting in the way. Stop holding the guy and help me find it.”
I was so furious I was shaking almost as badly as
Ronez. Ronez’s hand came up and bright blue-white flames leapt across the room
to swallow Shio whole.
With him dealt with, I turned back to Ronez, who was
lying, dying on the floor. His irises faded from the blue-white of the fire to
the dark brown they were normally. His pain eased, but his death just
beginning.
“I’m sorry about this. You weren’t supposed to die.”
He tried to give me a smile, but he looked like he
was having trouble staying awake. “I know this wasn’t part of your plan. You
had to do what you were told to do and I had to do what I was born to do.”
“You can still live. Heal yourself, damnit!”
“My body has broken contact with my book and magic. I
have cast off my book to find a new Guardian. I will die. A new Guardian will
rise now, and he will be more powerful than any of us.”
With this, Ronez closed his eyes and was dead. The
book was gone. The fire died with Ronez, leaving Shio in living misery. I
closed my eyes and prayed to Tiamat to give Ronez my goodbye, and to make sure
he had a happy afterlife.
Goodbye. You were my only friend, and the kindest
man I ever knew.
* * *
I always missed my little sister, but in the short
time that passed since meeting Ronez, she’d begun to annoy me terribly. When
did she become so vicious? So snide and selfish?
I had too much time to think while waiting for
orders. I actually enjoyed Vretial’s frustration when his beasts were killed by
the new Noquodi.
What young man,
I wondered,
would replace Ronez?
Surely not someone as unusual as Ronez. And who is helping the new Noquodi?
Finally I was ordered to find them, only after Shio
and my sister had failed. I checked the worlds most habitable for a human
first, but didn’t find the human Noquodi. It was pointless to search for his
mentor, since we didn’t know who his mentor was.
I had just finished scouring Dios when I was drawn
back to Vretial. As usual, his personality was questionable, and I had no idea
what he would order me to do. Sitting in his “throne” in what we all called the
dark room, he was barely visible by the dim lantern across the room. How he
could entertain his mind in such an empty, unchanging space was a mystery for
me, but I assumed there wasn’t much left of his mind to entertain.
“Why do you think so lowly of your master after
everything I gave you?” Vretial asked.
“Because you gave me so little to entertain my own
mind that I must make up amusing explanations for the little mysteries that you
are made of.”
“Are you saying I’m mysterious?” he asked with a
smirk.
“Quite.”
“So little respect.” He was flattered.
“You do not demand respect from me, Master, only
servitude. You demand respect of everyone else. In fact, you don’t let them
have a will or emotions. Why do I have them?” I asked.
“Because I think of you more as an assistant than a
servant. Now I have a job for you. Have you finished searching for the new
Guardian?”
“No. I still need to check Duran and Vaigda.”
“Go to Earth. Since they’re hiding so well, we must
draw them to us. Go to Earth and start destroying it. The elder Guardian will
come to defend it, but as soon as the Guardian arrives, leave Shio and Tomie to
fight him. You start the search with Duran, and then Vaigda to find the
unprotected human. You should be able to find him easily.”
I stared and realized my mouth was wide open.
“Master… that all made perfect sense. It’s a great plan and you explained it.
Why?”
“I’m not sure. I must not have enough power. Go now,
and don’t report back to me until you have good news.”
I woke in the dark, but this time there was no gorgeous angel tending
to my throbbing head. My eyes opened of their own accord, sticky and dry. I was
in a small room with stone walls and the only source of light was flickering
candles on either side of me. I would have liked to say I was in a bed, or even
on the floor, but instead, I was lying in a small bath of pearly white,
slightly thicker-than-water liquid. Creepy.
“How are you feeling?” Nano asked.
He sat in a low chair with his feet tucked under it.
In the eerie setting, he looked just as villain-like as he had in Mijii, but I
could see the concern in his eyes, and the way he sat in the chair was
deliberate to make him appear non-threatening.
“Like something went wrong.”
“As far as I can tell, nothing did, but I did not
expect this.”
“Yeah, I’m sure Edward already knows something
happened and is going out of his mind. Divina’s probably mad at me for causing
him to get his fur up.”
Nano frowned. “You don’t like that he’s worried about
you?”
I sighed. “I’m not used to someone being worried
about me. It would have been wonderful if I was a child, but I’m an adult. It
just feels…”
“Like they don’t think you can take care of
yourself?”
“Right. And I know that’s not how I should feel,
because I know how much I need their help. We’ve been running into dangerous
things left and right, and it’s only going to get worse, but I don’t like how
incapable it makes me to need their help.”
“But Kiro brought you into this danger, why are you
not angry with him?”
I laughed. “Edward took me away from a crap job and
my routine, boring life that would eventually lead to a routine, boring desk
job and a routine, boring family. He brought me to a world of magic and
dangerous, beautiful beasts. Life may have been safe, but it was boring. And it
only makes it worse that they look away for two seconds and I get lost.”
“But you got to meet me.” Nano’s grin was so funny
that it made him see like a different person. “Come. I’ll show you the city.
And I promise not to look away so some other Guardian can find you.”
“Yeah, that’s all I need; to be played hot-potato
with by the Guardians. And don’t let anything eat me, either. Edward would
never let me hear the end of it. Speaking of me going missing, where is
Shinobu?”
“Your little naowen? She couldn’t come with us. She’s
waiting for you to return to Duran, and I assured her you will soon.”
“Glad to know someone else will take revenge if you
let anything eat me. Please tell me this bath is not as gross as it looks.”
“It’s not.”
“It’s snot?! That’s pretty damn gross.”
He laughed. “I can see you’re going to drive your
master up the wall. Here, get dressed.”
Standing, I found that the liquid had a milky
texture, and I was thrilled it wasn’t slimy. As I stepped out of the tub, Nano
unrolled and handed me a beige towel, then a set of clothes. I dried off
quickly and dressed. The dark green tunic was smooth like satin but thick. The
slacks were dark red and made of the same material. I didn’t know what to do
with the brown leather belt that was included, since the pants had no belt
loops, so I fastened it around my waist over the shirt.
“This is nice material.”
“We like nice things.”
I felt weird since standing, and realized with a
start why. “The gravity is lighter.” I couldn’t compare it to Earth’s, because
I didn’t know how light I would feel on Earth. All I knew was that I weighed
quite a bit less than on Duran.
“That is one thing I dislike about visiting Duran.
Your boots are next to the tub. Hurry up.”
I slipped on my boots and hurried after Nano, who was
already headed down the hallway. The passage was carved stone, not made of
blocks but one solid, huge rock. “Are we underground?” I asked when I caught up
to him.
“Yes. The entire city is underground. All cities are,
since the land isn’t habitable for most people.”
“How come?”
“We weren’t as smart as Duran,” he answered
cryptically. “We didn’t stop fighting each other until it was too late. The
outside world was once beautiful, but now it’s nothing but desert. We’re trying
to repair it, but the land is resistant, and so are some of the people.”
“What do you mean?”
“Some people are afraid that if we turn the outside
wasteland into the beautiful world it once was, we’ll start wars again, so they
rebel.”
“They fight to prevent the chance of fighting?”
“Exactly.”
Around the corner came a mountain of a man. He was
humanoid, but no less than seven feet tall and twice as wide as Edward, not of
fat but of solid muscle. It wasn’t the ridiculously huge body that bothered me,
but the experience that most guys I’ve met that excel in body strength too
much, lack brain power.
The young woman he was towing in chains only enforced
my assumption. She had long, dark brown hair and light blue eyes with a soft,
round face and pale skin. Her lips were pressed tightly in anger, but her eyes
showed fear, which was likely why she kept her head down. I could imagine the
troll of a man dragging the woman back to his cave to have his way with.
I tugged on Nano’s sleeve, staring at the woman.
“What’s he doing with her?” I asked.
“She’s a prisoner,” he answered.
I suddenly remembered that I wasn’t supposed to speak
and wondered if he was going to try any damage control. He just grinned. “Don’t
worry. Dios is used to foreigners.”
“Why is she a prisoner? What did she do?”
Nano asked the mountain man in his language that
almost like a mix of Arabic and Gaelic. His voice was gentle, but deep and
demanding of attention. It struck me as very wizard-like. He turned back to me,
a doubtful frown. “He said she’s withholding information and may be involved in
an assassination attempt on the king. Dios has nine cities, each with a king.
The High King rules all cities, but less directly, like an emperor.”
I studied the woman and once again saw the fear in
her eyes. There was no guilt or anger. “Nano... Are you sure she’s guilty?” I
asked. As Nano turned back to the giant, the woman watched me with a strange
look in her eyes. She looked hopeful.
As Nano asked the guard my question, the woman
grabbed my arm. Apparently her shackles weren’t enough to keep her from
grabbing things. My surprise was short lived as my mind was flooded with
emotion. There wasn’t an instant that I mistook it for my own, though it was
powerful and clear. I could feel her fear, despair, and her new hope. I could
feel all of her emotions, but no guilt or malicious feelings. No motive for
hurting anyone, not even for a supposedly good cause.
The emotions vanished as the guard yanked her away,
forced her to her knees and pulled on the shackles specifically to cause pain.
“Stop, damnit, she’s innocent!” I yelled.
The guard ignored me but Nano yelled something and he
immediately let go. The woman’s pained expression eased and she met my eyes
again. The guard said something in anger and the woman shrunk back from me a
little.
“Nano?”
“He said she can read and share emotions and memories
with a person when she touches them. I take it she did something when she
touched you?”
“I felt her emotions. Is it trustworthy? Can she
withhold some emotions and send others?”
He asked the guard, who answered with curiosity.
“No,” Nano said.
“Then I’m sure she’s telling the truth. She showed no
malicious emotions at all. Unless she’s completely psycho, she would have
anger, or hatred, or even determination. And I didn’t feel any psycho feelings
from her either. The only strong emotions she’s feeling are fear, despair, and
hope.”
“You’re sure you’d know it? She’s not human.”
“I’m starting to believe the gods all used the same
templates. Give her a chance. Let her tell me her side. Please.”
Nano looked unsure for about three seconds before
turning to the guard and speaking in their language. The woman immediately
reached for my hand, but the guard yanked her away. He apparently wasn’t happy
with my request. Nano calmly said something else, to which the mountain’s scowl
became an uncertain frown.
I would have liked to be able to at least mimic what
Nano was saying in order to learn some of the language, but the syllables were
too foreign and too fast.
He turned to the woman and smiled as the guard let go
of her chains. She reached out hesitantly, afraid he would yank her back again,
and I took her hand. In the next second, I felt a falling sensation as my
vision blurred and sharpened to a new scene.
Everything had a greenish tint to it. My brain felt
foggy, like I was half asleep and didn’t know what was real or not. It was
similar to the alpha state Edward taught me on the ship, except it felt
induced, like I was on drugs. I was in a different place with the same stone
walls, and it appeared I was moving.
Then there were voices, which I couldn’t seem to
focus on. I started to enter a room when I saw two huge men, talking quietly,
except those kinds of voices carried. They spoke in their native tongue, but
though I didn’t know the words, I knew what they were saying.
The larger man was insulting the other, saying he
could have ruined everything. I moved behind the door and focused on the
voices. One of them spoke about a hidden passage to the king’s chambers. The
other was worried about horrible beasts. The first one explained that it was a
myth and that the assassins knew better than to worry about monsters.
Assassins? What assassins would need to worry
about monsters guarding a hidden passage to the king?
A fierce impression
of loyalty rushed through me.
A shout of outrage startled me and I turned back to
the door, only to find myself staring at the thick chest of one of the mountain
men just a foot away.
And then the falling sensation ceased and my vision
reverted to normal. I was on my knees with Nano holding me up and the woman
watching me in concerned. As my mind returned to normal, I realized I had been
seeing and feeling her memory. The guards were behind the assassination of the
king, so of course she didn’t know who to trust or who to talk to.
“She’s innocent,” I said, slowing climbing to my
feet. I considered the guard, not one of the two the woman had seen, and he
looked confused, not afraid of getting caught. “Some of the guards are in on
this. She came across them discussing assassins using a secret passage to get
to the king. I don’t know which king.”
“The High King,” Nano said. “Assassination of the
city kings would accomplish very little; they are chosen by blood. It’s an
inherited title, which one no one wants. The High King is about to sign over a
lot of money to rush the growth of vegetation and forests on the top world. We
have been slowly getting our oceans back. When the land is flourishing, many
will move there and will essentially divide the world into two groups. The
problem is that those who live above land will have food and water while those
who live below will suffer.”
“Why doesn’t everyone go above land?”
“The High King is trying to make it so that everyone
can, but there are those who are afraid war will return with the land, and
those who will use the under-cities to control those in their family and
service.”
“Like slaves?”
“We have laws against slavery now, but with the
return of land, most of the law will go above ground and many servants who
can’t get out in time will become slaves. That’s why I will be mostly living
underground, trying to keep things like that from happening. We are depleting
the under-cities, and we need the land back,” Nano said.
The woman and guard were waiting patiently and
confused, not risking interrupting Nano.
“It sounds like a lose-lose situation. How can we
stop the king from getting assassinated if his own guards are the ones behind
it?” I asked.
“Oh, our king can protect himself. We just need to
inform him of the danger he’s in, not from the assassins, but from the guards.
What’s more, I am fairly certain that the Kingdom guards are not the ones
behind this. A small number of guards from other cities will be going to the
Kingdom in order to share news, so some of them must be the guards in
question.”
“And we can’t trust the guards to tell him because we
don’t know which guards are against him.”
Nano nodded. “This woman should be taken personally
to the king of Kor, which is this city. Then it looks like a trek to the High
King is in order.” He turned to the woman and said something, to which she
nodded hesitantly. He turned back to me. “Well, what say you? Want to see what
being a Guardian is all about?”
“You solve civil problems?”
“We solve all problems. We work for the Gods, the
kings, the people, the peace, and the good of all mankind. We are essentially
problem solvers. The Gods say jump, we say ‘yes, master,’ the people say help,
we say, ‘what do I get for helping?’” he said.
“What?”
“Just kidding. We help all those who need our
assistance. Do you want to do this? I can drop you back off on Duran if you’d
prefer.”
“What about Edward? Won’t he worry about me?”
“He has his own mission to do, and I’m sure Divina
knows you’re safe.”
I really did want to see more of Dios. If Nano said
Edward was on a mission, I believed him. Surely I would be safer with Nano than
on my own on Duran. “All right. I’ll go with you.”
“Great. The journey to the king’s home will be a
dangerous one, but certainly an experience to be remembered.”
“It’s okay. I know you won’t let me get eaten,” I
said.
He got a weird frown on his face, then walked away
without confirming or denying anything. The woman looked at me expectantly. I
sighed and followed him down the halls, which grew increasingly dim. The woman
followed me.